Need advice on resource/guide for safe, initial config of XP Pro security settings

My first date with Ebay and I triumphed! I had set my maximum bid higher than I wound up paying for this, and secured it for $103- a whole lot cheaper than the retail versions I saw out there, and it is being sold by a guy with scores of Ebay sales and a 99% thumbs up rating. I went for SP1 purposefully, because I have the SP2 disk and it's less expensive. So that's done, my days with HOME's frustrations are over for good, and my holiday here on ME is now winding down.

Although I have researched the issue a lot already, where do you folks suggest I snag good detailed advice about how to set up the User Groups, permissions, encryptions, etc. in Pro- I'm thinking along the lines of Black Viper's no-nonsense charts for managing Services, for instance (though I disagree with him on some things, like I don't disable SysRestore). I seek tips on an optimable Pro config for a single user 933mhz, 512RAM, 40G hardrive Dell Dimension PC on DSL with a simple 4 port wired Linksys router.

Which gurus just tell it like it is for the newcomer to Pro, outline exactly what to set and where for a sensible, secure, one owner/user (in reality) initial setup of Pro? The more definitive and straightforward, the better. I want to get a basic configuration intact, and tweak the intricacies later.

Thanks for your comments.

 

Re: She's a winner! Got Full XP Pro 1a on Ebay- need advice pls.

Neither do I....but it's set very low (Mb).....and I don't really rely on it....had some terrible strife with SysRestore in the past......And it chews up tons of HDD space....just turning it off can sometimes recover Gb of lost space.
I now rely (primarily) on a good Ghosted image to my backup HDD.
Cheers.

 

Re: She's a winner! But needs help now...Got XP Pro1a on ebay

SYSRestore has not worked for me more than it has worked for me- becuase of all the things that can corrupt its images- bad shutdowns, messed up installs/uninstalls, not uninstalling programs that postdate your chosen restore date before running it- just lots of stuff.

On a disk off of here I have a great article by an MS guy that details all the crud that can screw it up. But I run it with low juice, too, because you just never know when it might come in handy.... I think just turning it off is kinda overkill, as it is a nice component.

And Viper says disable Help. No, not me. I use Help a fair bit, to be honest, and though it takes resources, I have plenty of them to allow me to have access to quick answers for stuff when I have those Senior moments......

 

Re: She's a winner! But needs help now...Got XP Pro1a on ebay

When things are good...I turn it off and recover the Mb...then turn it on again and it creates a new restore point...

 

Re: She's a winner! But needs help now...Got XP Pro1a on ebay

Congrats!

I still recommend nLite, this will create an install disk that you can customize for security, speed, and minimal disk space.

Here's a couple links that were posted on the forum a while ago, I believe it was Iceni60 that posted them:
http://www.uksecurityonline.com/husdg/windowsxp/wxpp2.php
http://www.markusjansson.net/exp.html

Those give some specific tips on what to set in the group policy editor, but it's worth going over on your own as well. You can ratchet things down to the n'th degree with gpedit, depending on how far into it you want to get. You could set IP policies if you wanted to, but I imagine you'd probably rather just use a 3rd party firewall

 

Re: Need advice on resource/guide for safe, initial config of XPPro security settings

Thanks so much Notok- I'll check those links out right away.

I also will go back to many sites I have perused over time, like Doug Knox's, BV's, Labmice, the Elder Geek's stuff (he's pretty funny), MS KBs of course, and lots of other techie sites/forums too numerous to mention, as accompanied by my best pal, GoogleGuy.

I have q couple of days to do my homework before my disk gets here, and I want setup to be simple through preparedness.

I know specifically what's different (and better!) in Pro than Home- that's the reason I shelled out another C note to jump the Home ship without further ado! Even though my clean install from an ME upgrade disk is only 7 months old....

Thanks for any opinions you all have......

 

Re: She's a winner! But needs help now...Got XP Pro1a on ebay

I didn't recognize where those links led until I hit them, but I have been through both of these sites previously and had them bookmarked! Gotta really read them closely this time, though.

Thanks again!

 

Re: Need advice on resource/guide for safe, initial config of XP Pro security setting

Posting herein again mainly to highlight the the thread once more as a question many of you would have a simple, personal opinion about and easily know the knee-jerk answer you'd give me. Please bother to quickly spew your initial response, your educated preference on a site that's seemed especially helpful to you with regards to XP Pro. Plllleeeez?

 

Re: Need advice on resource/guide for safe, initial config of XP Pro security setting

It depends on your setup. Let's start with a regular dial-up configuration. If you're not using IE, then set all the security options to HIGH or PROMPT. Don't allow anything to auto download. OE users should use PLAIN TEXT when reading emails.

The MSCONFIG's startup tab should auto load your firewall and antivirus scanner. Keep this list as small as possible. WXP win run okay with nothing in the startup tab. Make sure the firewall is ON after clean install of WXP.

All Services should be set to manual except for the followings (D=disable, A=auto):

Automatic updates...D
Background intelligent transfer service...D
COM+ event system...(D)
Error reporting...D
Event log...A
HID input service...A (MM keyboard with volume knob)
IMAPI CD burning...D
Indexing service...D
Logical disk Manager...(D)
Messenger...D
Network Connections...A
Network location awareness...D
Plug and Play...A
Print spooler...A
Protected storage...A
Remote access auto connection manager...(D)
Remote access connection manager...A
Remote procedure call...A
Remote registry...D
ScriptBlocking Service...A
Security accounts manager...A
Shell hardware...A
SSDP discovery service...D
System event notification...A
Task scheduler...A
Telephony...A
Terminal services...D
Universal plug and play device host...D
Windows audio...A
Windows management instrumentation...A
Windows time...D
Workstation...A